TRENTON — Chris Christie took a moment today to look back on the good old days — when Jon Corzine was governor.

Miffed that confirmation hearings have yet to be scheduled for his two recent state Supreme Court nominees, Christie reminded reporters that it took the Democratic Senate only 17 days to confirm Stuart Rabner as chief justice of the state Supreme Court in 2007.

So why, Christie wondered aloud at a news conference, was it taking the Senate so much longer (23 days and counting) to vote on one of his nominees, Phillip Kwon, who has "essentially the same qualifications?"

"I don’t know if that’s just politics," the Republican governor mused. "You can draw your own conclusions from that."

For one thing, Democrats say, little is known about Kwon. And there are concerns about an approximately $160,000 federal civil settlement between the government and his family’s wine and liquor store.

"There’s some financial issues we have to straighten out with Kwon," said Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Rabner was known somewhat better by the time he was nominated, and faced few questions from the Senate. He was also favorably reviewed by the New Jersey State Bar Association; the bar has yet rule on Kwon.

The chief justice, who was 46 at the time of his confirmation, was born in Passaic and lived most of his life in New Jersey. Kwon was born in South Korea, and lived most of his life in New York.

If confirmed, Kwon, 44, will have lived in New Jersey shorter than any justice before joining the high court.

Kwon was in a private practice about three years, and then another three years as a law clerk to a federal judge. Rabner was a law clerk about a year before becoming a federal prosecutor.

Rabner worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey for about two decades — and under Christie for several years — before being named as Corzine’s chief counsel, and then state attorney general. Kwon was a federal prosecutor for about a decade — also under Christie for a time — before being named first assistant state attorney general.

Christie has drawn some nods of approval for his selection of Kwon, who would be the first Asian-American on the high court. The nomination of Rabner, on the other hand, was briefly held up by a senator critical that his selection wasn’t diverse enough.

Gov. Christie: Leak of N.J. Supreme Court questionnaires may be illegalGov. Chris Christie in a press conference in Westfield today said the leaking of his two Supreme Court nominees' confidential questionnaires may have been illegal and that senators who talked publicly about information in the documents violated their own chamber's ethics rules. The documents, obtained by The Star-Ledger, include information on the professional and financial backgrounds of Christie's nominees, Bruce Harris and Phil Kwon. (Video by John Munson / The Star-Ledger)

Christie’s other nominee, Bruce Harris, is also awaiting a hearing, but the governor didn’t venture to compare him with Rabner.

He simply said, "I’ve nominated outstanding people who will be outstanding justices on this court."